Navy news stories on Newser

Navy Purposely Sinks Retired Battleships

Sarah Whitmire — Sun, 24 Jul 2011 17:13:05 CDT

Where is the best place for a retired battleship to spend the rest of its days as an off-duty vessel? For the US Navy, the answer is sometimes the bottom of the ocean, where the ships can become artificial reef habitats for fish—not to mention popular tourist attractions. But...

ROTC Back at Yale After 40 Years

Thu, 26 May 2011 11:13:05 CDT

Yale University has agreed to bring back ROTC for the first time in decades after Congress voted to allow gays to serve openly in the military. The university's president Richard Levin and Navy Secretary Ray Mabus planned to sign an agreement today that establishes the Naval ROTC's formal presence at...

Navy: Never Mind, No Gay Marriages Yet

Evann Gastaldo — Wed, 11 May 2011 10:32:06 CDT

Well, that didn't last long: Just one day after announcing that its chaplains would soon be allowed to perform same-sex marriages , the Navy is backpedaling. More than five dozen House lawmakers challenged the decision, which would have permitted chaplains to officiate gay unions after Don't Ask, Don't Tell is officially...

Navy Will Let Chaplains Officiate Gay Marriages

Evann Gastaldo — Tue, 10 May 2011 09:24:40 CDT

When Don't Ask, Don't Tell is repealed, a big change will come to the Navy: Its chaplains will be allowed to officiate at same-sex marriages. Rear Admiral Mark Tidd, the Navy's head chaplain, made the announcement in a recent memo but noted that chaplains may decline to participate if gay...

Two Killed in California Navy Jet Crash

Mary Papenfuss — Thu, 07 Apr 2011 04:18:00 CDT

Two service members were killed yesterday when a fighter jet crashed into a field in central California during a training exercise. The F/A-18F Super Hornet went down a half mile from the Naval Air Station outside of Fresno. Witnesses said the $50 million aircraft disintegrated into "smoldering debris," reports AP...

US Should Treat Pirates Like Terrorists: Vice Admiral

Nick McMaster — Wed, 26 Jan 2011 16:00:45 CST

The problem of piracy in the Gulf of Aden might be receiving less attention in the media these days, but it has not gone away. In fact, hostage-taking is up, from 350 people in captivity in September to 750 today. Ransoms are a million-dollar business for pirates, who are also...

Navy Videos Show Depths of Homophobia in Military

Nick McMaster — Fri, 07 Jan 2011 17:40:16 CST

Former Navy Capt. Owen Honors' homophobic videos raise a big question in the wake of the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell, writes Meghan McCain in the Daily Beast . Now that gay service members can serve openly, why on earth would they in that kind of environment? "What gay sailor...

Navy Probing Skipper's Role in Raunchy Videos

Polly Davis Doig — Sun, 02 Jan 2011 12:14:40 CST

The second-in-command aboard the nuclear-powered USS Enterprise spent an inordinate amount of time producing gay-bashing videos that he broadcast to the entire ship—often while on missions supporting the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq—and the US Navy is taking a look into the matter. As the Virginian-Pilot reports, the...

$2B Attack Subs Cheapened by Chintzy Coating

Nick McMaster — Wed, 29 Sep 2010 16:39:03 CDT

Cost-cutting by the Navy and two defense contractors has led to a serious problem for the elite Virginia-class nuclear submarine, reports the Daily Press of Newport News, Va. A hull treatment designed to increase the subs' stealth tends to peel away underwater—and the lack of protective coating makes the...